Our Genealogy Helper
Introduction ...
We have a couple of goals for our Gazetteer:
- That it be a tool which helps us with planning our trips.
- We're trying to shape our Gazetteer as a tool to help us understand the community in which our ancestors lived, the community that was part of their daily lives.
- On our trips, we try to visit those places where our ancestors left their footprints.
By learning about Messenger Bay (and the surrounding area) during the time that our ancestors lived, we hope to have a better understanding of both their community and its relationship to their lifes. We hope that this tool helps to give us an insight into their world.
As we add data and organize our Gazetteer to help with our family research, we will be adding to this our Genealogical Helper for Messenger Bay. While we don't have information that is specific to any given person or family, we intend to expand our understanding about where and how people lived.
Neighboring Counties ...
When searching for family records, we have frequently made the mistake of not checking the neighboring counties.
For example, we have great-grandparents who lived in the northeast corner of their home county. During their lives, most doctors and hospitals were in the next county to the east. Almost all of the nearby churches and cemeteries were in the county to the north.
So when searching for records, we had our best success by looking in neighboring counties instead of the county in which they lived: their home county contained property and probate records; the county to the east contained birth and death records; the county to the north contained their burial records. If we hadn't included the neighboring counties, we would have missed many valuable sources of information.
If you're in a similar situation, we hope that the following information helps.
Messenger Bay is located in Madison County.
To see how the shape of New York's counties may have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
The following counties adjoin and form the boundaries of Madison County: Chenango, Cortland, Oneida, Onondaga, Oswego & Otsego.
Below are the counties that are near Messenger Bay. For each of these counties, we show a sample of those communities that are closest to Messenger Bay:
- Madison County (The home county of Messenger Bay)
- The following are listed by their distance from Messenger Bay, with the one closest to Messenger Bay listed first.
- Whitelaw
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Whitelaw is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitelaw
- Oneida Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Oneida Valley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida Valley
- Canastota
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- Sullivan
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Sullivan is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sullivan
- Wampsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Bolivar
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Bolivar is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bolivar
- Chittenango
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Clockville
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Cottons
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
- Cottons is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cottons
- Oneida
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
- Bridgeport
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)
- Sulphur Springs
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the south)
- Sulphur Springs is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sulphur Springs
- Sulphur Springs has also been known as:
- Chittenango Springs
- Chenango County
- Otselic
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the south)
- Otselic is located in Chenango County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Otselic
- Cortland County
- Cummings Crossing
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the southwest)
- Cummings Crossing is located in Cortland County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cummings Crossing
- Lewis County
- The following are listed by their distance from Messenger Bay, with the one closest to Messenger Bay listed first.
- Osceola
(23 miles [37 km] to the north)
- Osceola is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Osceola
- Leisher Mill
(24 miles [38.6 km] to the north)
- Leisher Mill is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Leisher Mill
- West Leyden
(26 miles [41.8 km] to the northeast)
- Mohawk Hill
(30 miles [48.3 km] to the northeast)
- Mohawk Hill is located in Lewis County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mohawk Hill
- Oneida County
- The following are listed by their distance from Messenger Bay, with the one closest to Messenger Bay listed first.
- Jewell
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the north)
- Jewell is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Jewell
- Sylvan Beach
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- North Bay
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- North Bay is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay
- Vienna
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Vienna is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
- Elpis
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)
- Elpis is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elpis
- Agnes Corners
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
- Agnes Corners is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Agnes Corners
- McConnellsville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast)
- McConnellsville is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for McConnellsville
- Oneida Castle
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Oneida Castle is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida Castle
- Population from the 2020 Census: 603 people
- Sconondoa
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
- Sconondoa is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sconondoa
- Cagwin Corners
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
- Cagwin Corners is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cagwin Corners
- Blossvale
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Sherrill
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
- Onondaga County
- The following are listed by their distance from Messenger Bay, with the one closest to Messenger Bay listed first.
- Tall Pines Village
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Tall Pines Village is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tall Pines Village
- Kirkville
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Mycenae
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southwest)
- Mycenae is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mycenae
- Minoa
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
- Eagle Village
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)
- Eagle Village is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eagle Village
- Fayetteville
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Manlius
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
- Lyndon
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
- Lyndon is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lyndon
- De Witt
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- De Witt is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for De Witt
- Population from the 2020 Census: 24,962 people
- East Syracuse
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
- East Syracuse is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Syracuse
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,907 people
- Eastwood
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the southwest)
- Eastwood is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eastwood
- North Syracuse
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the west)
- North Syracuse is located in Onondaga County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Syracuse
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,595 people
- Oswego County
- The following are listed by their distance from Messenger Bay, with the one closest to Messenger Bay listed first.
- Cleveland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
- Constantia
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Nicholsville
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
- Nicholsville is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nicholsville
- Gayville
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the northwest)
- Gayville is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gayville
- West Monroe
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northwest)
- West Monroe is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Monroe
- West Amboy
(18 miles [29 km] to the northwest)
- West Amboy is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for West Amboy
- Central Square
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Mallory
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
- Kasoag
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the north)
- Kasoag is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kasoag
- Caughdenoy
(21 miles [33.8 km] to the west)
- Caughdenoy is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Caughdenoy
- Sand Ridge
(22 miles [35.4 km] to the west)
- Sand Ridge is located in Oswego County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sand Ridge
- Hastings
(23 miles [37 km] to the northwest)
For an expanded list of the communities that are closest to Messenger Bay, see our County-by-County Page for Messenger Bay.
Cemeteries Near Messenger Bay ...
Below are cemeteries that are in the vicinity of Messenger Bay.
This is a new section and is likely to have errors. If you find an error, such as a missing cemetery or we have the wrong name, please let us know. If you know of them, we would also appreciate learning about previous or alternate names.
Although we don't have the information ourselves, if you need information about a burial or interment, photos, transcripts, how to contact the cemetery or local authorities, please visit our list of websites on our Genealogy Helper Page for Messenger Bay - one of the links might be able to help.
If not found below, our Cemetery List for Messenger Bay covers a larger area, with the cemeteries listed in alphabetical order.
The following cemeteries are listed based on their distance from Messenger Bay, with the one closest to Messenger Bay listed first.
- Oneida Lake Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the east)
- Whitelaw Cemetery
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Walker Corners Cemetery
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the southeast)
- Allis Cemetery
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the south)
- Smith's Ridge Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Sullivan Cemetery
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- Lenox Rural Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Mt. Pleasant Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Murray Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
- Cleveland Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Lakewood Cemetery
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)
- Fyler Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southwest)
- Continue List (394 more) ...
- St. Agatha Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the south)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for St. Agatha Cemetery
- To give a relative sense of its location, the St. Agatha Cemetery is a large cemetery that is located outside and to the south of Canastota.
- Jump to Find-A-Grave: FG ID #65908 <2>
- Walnut Grove Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Lynch Cemetery
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
Nearby Communities in 1895 ...
We've built the following list with information that came from an Atlas published by Rand McNally in 1895. The Atlas had details such as the population of the community (which appears to have come from the 1890 Census) and whether there was a post office and/or railroad service available. We also indicate if the community no longer exists and is now historic.<3>
While we didn't find Messenger Bay in the Atlas, the following 1895 communities would have been found near the current location of Messenger Bay.
These communities are listed based on their distance from Messenger Bay, with the one closest to Messenger Bay listed first.
- Whitelaw
(Less than 2 miles to the south)
- Whitelaw is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitelaw
- South Bay
(2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
- South Bay is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Bay
- Lakeport
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
- Lakeport is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lakeport
- Oneida Valley
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the east)
- Oneida Valley is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oneida Valley
- Verona Beach
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- Sylvan Beach
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)
- East Boston
(5 miles [8 km] to the south)
- East Boston is located in Madison County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for East Boston
- Canastota
(5 miles [8 km] to the southeast)
- North Bay
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)
- North Bay is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Bay
- State Bridge
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- State Bridge is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for State Bridge
- Wampsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
- Durhamville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Continue List (15 more) ...
- Higginsville
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Higginsville is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Higginsville
- Vienna
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Vienna is located in Oneida County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vienna
- Cleveland
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northwest)
We've also created an expanded list of communities that existed in the 1890's and were located in the area around Messenger Bay. See our List of 1890's Communities around Messenger Bay.
Newspapers Published in Messenger Bay ...
An ongoing effort between the Library of Congress and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has resulted in the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP).
To share their results, the partnership has created the Chronicling America website. The goal of this partnership is to assemble a database about the current and historic newspapers of the United States. This includes a growing collection of scanned images from selected papers. All of it available to the public on their website.
Using information that we've taken from the Chronicling America website, we've identified 100 newspapers that have been published in the area around Messenger Bay.
Although we're unaware of any newspapers that were published in the immediate area of Messenger Bay, there are papers which were published within 16 miles [25.7 km]<4>. A list of those papers, sorted by paper name, can be found on the Extended Newspaper List for Messenger Bay.
Websites to Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
When we do our genealogical research, we like to start with the websites from Cyndi's List, FamilySearch and Genealogy Trails. These websites offer the information directly or else point to where you can find it. Their information is open to everyone.
To help you get started, the following links will take you to the pages that are relevant to Messenger Bay:
- Websites specific to New York
- Pages specific to Madison County
- Genealogy information for nearby counties
- Chenango County
- Cortland County
- Lewis County
- Oneida County
- Onondaga County
- Oswego County
- Cemetery Information and Directories for New York
Footnotes ...
| <1> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <2> | The Find-a-Grave website is an excellent research tool with information about a cemetery's location and interments. They also offer a forum for their members which can provide additional help. More information about Find-a-Grave can be found on their website: findagrave.com. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Messenger Bay, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'point-to-point' distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Messenger Bay) to Point B. In other words: 'As the crow flies'. |